San Joaquin County Victim Witness will honor victims of violent crimes by releasing balloons and butterflies. Butterflies were raised by wards at N.A. Chaderjian Youth Correctional Facility. The ev...

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Butterfly release

San Joaquin County Victim Witness will honor victims of violent crimes by releasing balloons and butterflies. Butterflies were raised by wards at N.A. Chaderjian Youth Correctional Facility. The event will be held from 10 to 11:30 a.m. today outside Superior Court of San Joaquin County at San Joaquin Street and Weber Avenue. A continental breakfast will be served.

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STOCKTON - He pressed two fingers together, securing a butterfly's wings in between. Firm enough to keep it from flying. Gentle enough to keep its new wings from tearing.

Joseph Galindo, 19, helped the once-tiny egg transform to an exquisite painted lady the past several weeks, a metamorphosis that conceivably reflects his own path to empathy amid the unforeseen tragedy of losing his own grandmother to violence.

Galindo and two other wards at Stockton's N.A. Chaderjian Youth Correctional Facility - Andrew Chavez, 20, and Kyle Raridon, 19 - have raised hundreds of butterflies that are donated to victims groups.

Galindo has spent six months at Chaderjian, one of four state facilities that houses wards with some of the most violent convictions, for a crime he committed in Bakersfield.

In the program, butterflies are used to symbolize that the young wards can change their lives.

"It first starts out like a little speck," a soft-spoken Galindo said as he opened a plastic container with pin head-size eggs.

He stood in a prison cell that is converted to a butterfly habitat.

The specks must be incubated and fed a mix of specialized powder food, vinegar and water. Galindo is responsible for monitoring the larvae. They depend on him for survival.

"I love the butterflies," he said. "I love the process."

As the caterpillars mature, they're transferred to better-suited containers, where they attach to coffee filters that substitute for natural leafs. The creatures dangle upside down, forming a cocoon.

"The whole process takes about four weeks," Galindo said.

He picked up a mesh basket containing dozens of new butterflies. "Their wings are still wet," Galindo said.

He nourishes them with pieces of oranges and Gatorade, keeping them in dark spaces so they don't mate - they mate in the light and lose their wings.

"I'm going to do my best so when they're released, (the victim's families) are going to get a good experience," Galindo said.

It's especially true because Galindo also knows what it's like to lose a loved one to violence.

Recently, he was notified his grandmother was found dead in a canal in the south Valley. It had been months since she was reported missing.

Heartbroken, he has found comfort in the world of butterflies. A place where he can reflect and refocus his energy.

"I come here to relieve my stress," Galindo said, although he didn't want to talk much about it.

Today, a shoebox full of butterflies will be released in honor of violent crimes victims at the county Superior Court in Stockton.

Galindo will send thoughts of his grandmother with the box of butterflies. Next week would have been her birthday.

He hopes the butterflies will also fly in her honor.

"This means a lot to me to be able to give back to victims of crimes," Galindo said.